


Wedding Bells

by Endangered_Slug



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, an au, but also not an AU, spoiler she said yes, that one time I got to help facilitate a wedding proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endangered_Slug/pseuds/Endangered_Slug
Summary: Gold and Belle get stuck in traffic and witness the happiness of two people in love.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, wayamy27narf/keylon
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44





	Wedding Bells

**Author's Note:**

> For wayamy27narf and keylon and many years of happiness.

Gold sighed heavily as he pressed his foot on the brake again, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles were white and strained. He bit back the curse he wanted to lay onto the car in front of him. And the car in front of that, and the car in front of that one all the way up the road until it landed on top of the head of whoever was responsible for this traffic jam. He’d barely done anything else since he’d turned off the side street onto the main road and was greeted with the traffic jam of the century.

He  _ wanted _ to curse, but he didn’t. He couldn’t because Belle French his beautiful, smart, capable, kind, and  _ perfect _ assistant was riding in the car with him. Her car was in the shop for a minor repair, but it meant she would have to take the bus for a few days. Naturally, he offered to carpool with her. She didn’t live very far away, it would be silly to take the bus when she could ride with him. Besides, some company might be nice. Now, it was after work and he was supposed to be taking her home. Instead, they were stuck and all he wanted to do was scream. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to will his shoulders to relax. They were tense. Had been since he’d pulled up in front of her apartment that morning and Belle ran out to meet him smiling as if she was happy he was there. “I didn’t know there would be all these idiots.” He waved his hand at them before it plopped back down on his steering wheel. “Traffic sucks,” he said, slumping in his seat.

She giggled softly. “It does,” she said, glancing up at him. “But at least I’m not stuck by myself in my car.”

“Does mean you’re stuck with your boss for what looks like at least another half hour,” he replied, turning his head to look at her. 

She had her book pulled out and her eyes were glued to the pages, but there was a soft smile playing on her lips as she read. He knew she liked to read — it was the first thing written under hobbies on her employment application. There was always a book tucked into her purse, which she took out during lunch, but he didn’t get much time to watch as she read. He wanted to ask her what it was that made her smile so content, so serene. He wanted to maybe see if she’d read aloud to him. Unless she didn’t. She was, technically, off the clock now and not obliged to lift a finger for him. He eyed the radio, wondering if he should put on some music. But that might distract her from reading. And it might be weird to turn it on since it had been turned off and if he turned it on now would it seem like he didn’t want to talk to her if she wanted to talk? 

Why was he making this so complicated? His brain was buzzing with her perfume and her smile and the fact that he could just reach over and touch her without even moving. Well, he’d have to move his  _ arm _ , but he knew what he meant. She was more reachable now. 

Except he would never dare touch her because he was her boss and only sleaze buckets made moves on their employees. He was not a sleaze bucket. He was merely a hopeless romantic with an unfortunate crush on someone so utterly perfect for him and so completely out of bounds that he sometimes contemplated firing her just so the daily torture would end. And then, ask her out on a date.

He didn’t think that ‘too perfect to exist’ was legal grounds for firing though. 

Giving her a ride was a stupid idea. He should have known it would backfire on him.

He studied the slope of her nose and the curve of her cheek and how her lower lip was tucked neatly between her teeth. Whatever it was she was reading must be really good then. Her eyes were shining and slightly squinty because her reading glasses were still in her purse which was tucked by her feet. She’d worn her hair pulled back today, but a stray curl had escaped and hung down over her forehead. It fluttered a bit from the air conditioner vents.

Without looking up from her book, she reached up with one hand and unclipped whatever it was she’d used to hold her hair up and, like that, it all came tumbling down en masse around her shoulders. She scrunched her hair a bit at the roots to relieve the stress from all that weight on her scalp, moaning softly, her eyes fluttering a bit. 

He took a shuddering breath and looked away again. Fuck. 

Was this traffic ever going to move? 

A movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned just in time to see a bubble sail past the windshield. Gold stared at it in disbelief, wondering where such a thing had come from, when it was followed by another bubble, and another, and then there were dozens of them floating on the breeze to be carried up over the hot city where it disappeared from sight. He craned his neck, peering up through the windshield watching as they drifted away.

He opened his mouth to ask if Belle had seen them. Surely she would have commented, or maybe he was just imagining them, but he stopped when she put a hand on his arm with an exclamation. 

“Oh! Look!”

The words “what is it” were on the tip of his tongue, but they never made it out. 

“Oh,” he said, feeling his shoulders finally relax as the tension melted away. He stared passed Belle out the window.

They had been stopped in front of the small wedding chapel the entire time. It didn’t really register because it was mostly just another building that he passed on his way to and from work and he’d never seen anyone ever use it until now.

There had been a wedding. People were lining the walkway, all of them dressed up in bright colors and all of them holding small bottles of bubbles, which they were blowing vigorously. 

That explained the sudden assault of good witches he’d just experienced. 

The couple stood on the top step of the chapel, barely even aware of anyone but each other. Two brides, both dressed in creamy shades of white, looking at each other as if the world had melted away leaving only the two of them. The shorter one, wearing glasses and with hair the color of maple sugar, wore a beautiful gown that looked like it was floating on the wind, a jeweled belt made of white and blue cut stones wrapped around her waist. She looked so much like a princess that Gold half expected to see a flock bluebirds as her attendants. He thought her bride, a bit taller and with her hair done up in fun spikes, was wearing a dress as well, until she moved and he realized that her skirt was split in the middle. They were wide pants three shades lighter than her wife’s dress with a floaty blouse that might have been made of lace and a jeweled belt with green stones instead of blue. He couldn’t tell much from the distance, but he could tell that they were happy and in love and oblivious to the traffic jam in front of them — as they should be. She looked down at her new wife with adoration, then tugged at her hand to bring her into an embrace, wrapping her arms around her and holding her close to share a kiss. Suddenly, they were off, rushing down the short flight of steps to stride hand in hand down the sidewalk towards a small park as their guests filed back inside to wait out the traffic.

The banner hanging above the door read “Congratulations Katie and Amy!”

“Katie and Amy! Oh! We would have missed that if we hadn’t been stuck,” Belle said, turning towards him, her eyes shimmering wetly.

“We should send them a toaster or something,” Gold murmured, only half meaning it, but his eyes were bright as they met hers and he knew, without a doubt, that they were going to buy the newlyweds something before the traffic let up.

Belle’s face lit up like Christmas when he spoke. She gasped, her hands raising up as if to embrace him, but instead she clasped them together before she dove into her work bag with a barely concealed squeal. She pulled out a slim laptop and settled it on her lap. With a few keystrokes she’d pulled up a bridal registry.

“How did you do that?” he asked, in awe, leaning over to look over her shoulder.

She looked at him, her face blank. “We know the date, the location, and their first names. It’s that easy,” she explained. 

“But the store?” 

“Everyone registers here.” She made a face, then amended, “well, nearly everyone.” She turned her attention back to the screen, scrolling down rapidly. “Not much left. There’s a potato peeler.”

He shook his head, glancing back at the car in front of him. No movement at all. “No.”

“Ah… mmmmnapkin rings?” she said, her voice fading away indecisively.

“No. Are there toasters?” 

“There  _ was _ , but someone bought it already.” She continued to scroll down. “I’ll check a couple other sites, too. Some people register at more than one.” She glanced at him and giggled, her shoulders hunching over a bit as if they were conspiring to drop a water balloon on the headmistress. He found himself grinning widely back at her, leaning back into the corner of his seat to get a better look at her as she worked. It was a priceless opportunity. 

“I’m having so much fun,” she said, grinning at him then her eyes widened as she thought of something. “Oh, I know! What was the one thing you wanted most when you got married?” she asked, opening another tab and tapping away rapidly. Another obnoxious website came up and Belle had already begun entering the couple’s names. 

“Love,” Gold replied without thinking, his eyes focused on her profile. Then he stilled, another unspoken curse banging around his head.  _ Stupid _ .  _ Stupid _ .  _ Stupid _ . 

She whipped her head up at him, eyes wide with shock. “ _ What _ ?”

His smile frozen on his face, he gave the first “Gloves.” 

Her eyes narrowed at him. “What kind of gloves?” she asked, suspiciously.

He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers at her. 

“Not very romantic,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“Gets cold in Glasgow,” was all that he said then, to distract her from his gafe, he reached over and pointed at the second item on the list.. “Get them that.”

“The tea set?” she asked, looking at the picture of a bone china set edged in gold and a simple splash of blue paint resembling a branch. Not quite blue willow, but elegant and simple and perfect. “It’s a bit pricey,” she warned.

He shrugged. “It's on their registry so they must want it.”

She clicked on the tea set then asked, “what should I write on the message?”

Gold thought for a moment. “Uh... May your cup runneth over. Best wishes for a lifetime of love and happiness.”

Another beaming smile from her and, without a word, he fished out his wallet and handed her his credit card. 

“I promise not to use this for my own selfish gain,” she told him cheekily as she snatched it from his fingers, holding it against her chest. 

He snorted. “Yes, I can only imagine the bill. Nothing by charges for books, books, books, and shoes,” he said, glancing down at her tiny feet. 

“Maybe a few other things as well,” she replied, her voice cryptic and low. 

He was about to ask her what she meant by that, but then she placed the credit card between her teeth to hold it while she typed in his address. 

“Um, I could-I could take that,” he offered.

“Hnn?” she muttered, looking at him then sheepishly took the card out of her mouth and wiped it on her blouse. “Sorry,” she said, her face turning a delightful shade of red. “Habit.”

He shook his head fondly and accepted it back, tucking it — and the memory — away for safekeeping. 

“There! It’s all sent and it’ll be waiting for them when they return from their honeymoon,” she said, giving out a deep sigh of satisfaction. Her coloring had almost returned to normal and she leaned her head against the headrest, turning to face him. “Thank you so much for letting me do that. I love paying things forward.”

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t even think about how it was his money being paid forward and that it was his idea in the first place. If it made her this happy to do something nice for a couple of strangers, he’d have bought them a house.

He was tucked back in his corner, watching the light play on her hair and dreamily wondered what she would look like with bubbles floating around her head when he realized that she was saying something.

“— move forward?” she asked just as the car behind him honked.

He started with a jerk, suddenly aware that whatever had clogged up traffic had magically disappeared during their impromptu shopping spree and that he was now holding up the line. “Shit. Sorry,” he muttered, embarrassed at having been caught staring to the point of distraction. He put the car in drive and sped up to make the light. 

They were silent for another three blocks before Belle let out a dreamy sigh of her own. “Oh, I love that place.” 

“Which?” Gold asked, turning his head to look. 

“The one on the corner,” she said, leaning over to point at the old, boarded up building on his left. “The old library. I've been dreaming of opening it up again. There  _ should _ be a library on this side of town. It's a shame it closed down. Or, maybe I could turn it into a sort of coffee house - library - social center… thing.”

“Are you giving me your notice, Miss French?” he teased. 

She blushed and looked down at her hands before packing her laptop back in her bag. “No. I wouldn't dream of leaving you,” she told him, softly. “But a girl can wish,” she said, craning her neck to watch as they drove by the building.

Gold made a mental note to call his realtor as soon as he got home. He had the sudden urge to expand his business holdings to include a sort of coffee house - library - social center  _ thing _ and he knew the perfect location for it.

Sometimes wishes come true.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Oh ha ha! Hi! I was just cleaning out some stuff and realized that I never posted this on AO3. It was never meant to be here specifically as it was written for wayamy27narf as part of her massive and crowd sourced (sort of) proposal to her dear wife Keylon (she said yes!). However, since my tumblr's deactivated, there probably isn't a copy of it around without some serious searching on their parts. I figured they might maybe want to go back and re-read this at some point in time. Cheers!


End file.
